


Danganronpa: Experiment 20

by VId3d0ta



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Original Work
Genre: Experiment 20, Fangan Ronpa, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:13:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27948872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VId3d0ta/pseuds/VId3d0ta
Summary: 20 students wake up in an unfamiliar place, with no memory of why they are here. They discover they have signed up for an experiment that may take their life. Follow the main character of this story and encourage him to interact with your favorite characters. Who knows, maybe it will impact the story.Freetime event: form closed.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

::Day 1::  
::7 AM::

"Hey! Hey!! Can you hear me?!"

I heard being screamed at me as I woke up to my body being shaken vigorously. A powerful migraine emerged in my head, making it hard for me to open my eyes. I tried to respond, but it just came out as a pained groan.

"Oh god! Oh god oh god oh god!" This person, most likely a male, panicked. He had stopped the shaking of my body as he said that, giving me a better chance at opening my eyes. When I first did, the view was just a couple of blurry blobs; soon, they refocused to look at the white-haired man with a plain, white t-shirt and a sweater jacket, who was still looking worried.

"... Huh?" That was all my mouth could muster. I glanced at the room around me. It looked kind of like a stereotypical science classroom with desks set in five by four rows in front of a desk. There were many cabinets and counters with sinks along the walls. In some of the open cabinets were empty test tubes and bag covered microscopes; everything in the room was dusty and probably hasn't been touched for months.

"Are- are you ok?!" The man bent down to ask me. I didn't even notice I was lying on the floor until now.

"Yeah, I think." I rubbed my still heavy eyes. "Where are we?"

"I don't know, but it's somewhere really, really bad!" His voice cracked in fear.

"How can you tell?" I sat up fully as I asked.

"I don't know, but I have a big feeling! And- and usually, when I have a feeling, it's never wrong!" He stuttered out, his frantic, black eyes scanning me from my spikey, ginger hair to my grey, patterned sweater.

"Uh well, it still is just a feeling. It might be wrong." As I started moving my arms, I felt a fabric next to me. My hat! I placed my favorite Yamazaki pirate hat on my head, which helped hide the big spike of hair at the top.

"Yeah but... I don't know, it just seems bad!" The man stood up, shaking from paranoia. "Because- how- how many times have you just woken up randomly in a place and it is good?!"

"I guess that makes sense." I was able to stand as well, looking at him. "Hey uh... since we're here together, I might as well know your name."

"Oh, right." He reluctantly complied. "I'm Esko... Prebensen..."

"I'm Lokisoma! Nice to meet you!" I held my hand out for a friendly shake. His shaking hand slowly put itself in mine and they went up and down for a few seconds before his hand departed.

"Y-yeah... same I guess?" Esko looked towards the double door of the room. "Should we... go out of here?"

"I don't see why not." I walked towards it and turned the knobs. Awaiting us was a pure white, long hallway with an occasional double door like the one we just went through on either side. Next to the room we just exited there was a corkboard with a simple piece of lined paper. It seemed like a schedule, but not like a typical school one. It had the following written in messy handwriting:

First-day schedule: [7:00-8:00 AM] Participants awaken. [8:00 AM] Call everyone to the lobby room. [8:10-8:35 AM] Introductions and rules. [8:35 AM-1:00 PM] Participants' free time. [1:00 PM-? PM] The first experiment. [Remaining Time-9:00 PM] Participants' free time.

What is this even for? What participants? What experiment? Are we the participants? "Hey, Esko? Do you know what time it is?"

"Uh-" Esko looked up at the clock in the hall. "7:32 AM."

"It says here that they're supposed to call everyone to a lobby room at eight." I took the schedule off the board, ripping the top part of the paper where it was pinned. "This might mean there are more people here. We should go looking for them."

"And an exit too!" He added on, already walking through the hall. I caught up to him quickly and we started our search. We went through another double door that was already opened and led to a different portion of the hall. It didn't take long to find someone else; once we rounded the corner, we saw two other people standing before us.

"Oooooh! This is so cool! Is this a lab or a school? Oh, I really hope it's school!" The pink-haired one with pigtails hopped with glee. She wore a typical white schoolgirl uniform and a bow at the top of her head.

"Are you going to ignore that we randomly woke up in this creepy ass place?! I wouldn't be surprised if this was the devil's work." The spiky black-haired man with red eyes spoke in a deep voice, having a face of pure misery.

I was about to say something to them, but the pink-haired girl had already bounced up to me and started introducing herself.

"Hiiiiiii!" She dragged out the word for a while. "I'm Allycia Falconer! I don't know where we are but I'll do my duty to be everyone's best friend!"

"You can't just be everyone's friend. That's not how life works-" The black-haired one tried to say before being interrupted by her again.

"Not my fault you're a big ol' pessi!" She stuck her tongue out at him, which made him respond with an irritated sigh.

"Whatever. I'm Maedoc if you really needed to know that." He crossed his arms.

"I'm Lokisoma, and this is Esko! It's nice to meet you both!" I said cheerfully, trying to make the most out of this confusing situation.

"I wouldn't say nice but... yeah. What he said." Esko stood behind me in suspicion.

I looked back up at another wall clock. 7:36. "Did you guys also get a schedule next to the room you woke up in?"

"No? Did you?" Maedoc looked at me curiously.

"Yeah," I said as I passed over the written schedule I had.

Maedoc scanned through it while Allycia looked over his shoulder. Maedoc increasingly became more confused, while Allycia just looked disappointed.

"So it's a lab and not a school? Aw man..." Allycia said, dropping her feet down from being in a tippy-toe position.

"Who cares if it's not a school?!" Maedoc yelled at her. "What matters is there is definitely something planned here and I don't want to stick around to find out what it is! We need to find an exit now!"

"Yeah- yeah I agree. Something's wrong. I can feel it." Esko said, still stuttering from paranoia.

Maedoc passed back the schedule to me. "I'm going to search. If you want to come with me then go ahead. I don't care." He walked off, leaving Esko to immediately start following him.

"Well, I'm staying right here with Lokisoma until there are further directions!" Allycia crossed her arms with a pouty expression.

"Sorry but uh... I'm going to go with them." I said before running over to the others.

"Hey, wait!" She went to follow me. "I don't want to be alone!"

"For the love of hell, kid. Can you make up your mind?" Maedoc irritatedly said.

We walked past many unlabeled doors. We were able to see the lab and science equipment inside; each one having different items than the last. One seemed to be a storage closet for protection jackets, gloves, and goggles. Another had a series of empty beakers, test tubes, and Erlenmeyer flasks all set in a neat row upon a long row of tables. As we slowed down to glance at each one, Allycia skipped ahead, not bothering to do the same as us. She headed towards a door at the end of this portion of the hallway and gasped.

"Oooh! A cafeteria! Maybe this is just a big fancy science school! A mix of both my guesses!" She looked back at us with excitement.

"No one cares." Maedoc groaned in anger. "If it doesn't have a way out, we're not going in."

Allycia went in despite his statement and gasped once again. "I hear people!"

"There are more?" I sprinted over to see what she was talking about. Indeed, there were more people inside. Two more. Accompanying them was an array of small, circle tables with empty condiment holders atop; there was also a line of counters and kitchen equipment behind them in a separate room.

"And you haven't dropped a single thing since...?" The beanie black-haired male with a white dress shirt and black tie asked the other, more crazily colorful person.

"Two years! I haven't dropped anything from a bottle to a chainsaw!" The female with bright colored face stickers and even brighter blonde hair with orange-tipped ends answered, clearly showing that talent off as she threw a spinning bottle in the air and caught it perfectly by its thin opening.

"Fascinating... and very dangerous. How much money would you say you get normally from this occupation?" The other looked concerned, yet intrigued by her.

She threw the bottle up a couple more times while thinking. She was about to answer before she saw me. Even in her shock, she caught the bottle effortlessly. "Woah uh... I thought we were the only ones here."

The other looked confused before he, too, saw us. He bowed in apology. "Oh my, I'm terribly sorry! I did not see you when you entered! That is my mistake."

"It's fine!" I assured him. "What's your name?"

He stood back up straight. "Tomoguru Iakazi and that talented young lady beside me is Minea."

"Aww, you don't have to flatter me, Tomy!" Minea giggled, putting the bottle on the counter behind her.

"But it is true! You are talented and strong, while I do not contribute anything." Tomoguru complimented.

"Hey, being a talent inspector is cool!" She smiled wide. "It means you can recognize everyone has the potential to be great, and you know exactly what potential they have!"

"I guess so." He ran a hand through his hair. "That aside, who are all of you?"

"I'm Lokisoma!" I held my hand out for a handshake, which he accepted instantly.

"Say, I do recognize that name and that specific style of antlered pirate hat. Are you perhaps Lokisoma Yamazaki? The talented teenage costume designer?" He smiled.

"Yes, I am!" I was proud to be recognized.

His hands shook in excitement as he spoke almost at the speed of sound. "Oh, I am such a big fan! You have made so many creative works come to life in the most brilliant way possible! I can't believe I'm standing here, right in front of this big of a curator!"

I was overwhelmed, not able to come up with a good response. "Th-thanks uh- I'm sorry, I didn't expect anyone to be this joyful about seeing me."

"But I must apologize for not recognizing you sooner!" He bowed once more.

I let him back up as I said, "It's quite alright. I don't show my face out to the public as much as some others do, so I understand."

"Enough with this," Maedoc said from the doorway. "Do you two know what the hell's going on here?"

"No, we don't," Tomoguru answered. "We woke up suddenly in a lab-like setting near this area. We just started looking around when we found this room. We've just been talking and taking our time. Is there something dangerous afoot?"

"Not right now, but- but there's going to be!" Esko panicked once more.

"We're not sure yet." I explained, "But we have a big feeling that something fishy is going on. All of us woke up in a random room with no explanation. I also found a schedule of some sort."

I presented the schedule to them. As soon as they read it, Tomoguru said, "Yeah that... doesn't seem like it could be a good thing."

"There has to be a way we can get out though, right?" Minea optimistically said. "How much time do we have until eight?"

"It's- uh- 7:42. Eighteen minutes left. I- I have a feeling that- we won't be able to find the exit in that amount of time. This place seems huge so... I- I don't know! I just feel that we're all going to die here!" Esko failed to explain.

"Well, there's no harm in trying anyway!" Minea stepped towards us with confidence. "Besides, even if we do get stuck here somehow, there's always a way for us to make food. The kitchen's filled to the brim with all sorts of stuff!"

"Oooh!!! Oooh!!!" Allycia hopped excitedly, holding her hand high in the air. "I would love to learn how to cook!"

"Shut up! There's no time for this! Let's go!" Maedoc stepped out angrily and the rest of us followed.

As we walked, I started thinking about the layout of this place. "Why would they have a cafeteria in a lab? Is someone meant to be living here?"

"It looks like it." Maedoc pointed to the first single doors I've seen in this place. Above was a hanging sign that said dorms.

"Oooooh! What's in here?" Allycia skipped forward and opened the closest dorm door. "Two big beds, a couch, a bathroom... I wouldn't mind living here!"

We all looked inside as well. Indeed, there were two large beds with three pillows on each, a comfortable looking couch with a turned-off TV, and another door that held a bathroom.

"This- this is an awfully convenient safe space," Esko said with clear suspicion.

"Might as well have fun with this safe space!" Minea jumped on the bed, bouncing up a little bit when she landed. "It's so plush! Can I take one of these home?"

"Holy fuck- we don't have time for this!" Maedoc yelled, trying to make them stop.

Minea rolled off the bed with a thud, but not the type of thud that is normally heard when a person hits the floor. "Hey! There's a suitcase here!"

"Suitcase?" I walked over as she stood up with the camo suitcase. It had a sticky note attached that said Aishwarya on it.

"What's Aishwarya?" Allycia looked over curiously.

Just then the door opened with a slam, and an unknown female voice ran our ears. She had long, messy, dark blonde hair that could be compared to an untamed forest. It ran all the way down the outdoor gear she had on. "What are you doing to my stuff?!"

A majority of us screamed. Tomoguru was the one that spoke first, bowing in apology once again. "We're so sorry! We did not know this was yours and we were just investigating the area we had just appeared in!"

"You better be fucking sorry. I just found this shit, and I don't want it retaken from me." She angrily walked over, pushing Minea away from the suitcase.

"Taken?" I asked.

"Yeah," She sighed before adding onto it, "I woke up in this random ass place with this weird-ass other kid without any stuff and it turns out there were just a bunch of suitcases with names in these dorms or whatever."

"Names? This is so weird... So- so your name is Aishwarya?" Esko asked to confirm.

"Yep. That's me."

"So did you see any with Esko on it? Or- or Lokisoma." He looked back at me once he said it.

"Yeah, actually," She nodded, "In room 403 and 405 I think."

"I guess we will go there then. Thanks! Sorry for touching your stuff." I said before exiting and quickly finding dorm room 405. I was met with an identical room but with two different suitcases. One was a pure grey one that had my name on it, and the other had many Japanese cartoon character stickers with a pure red background that had the name Kumiko.

I started to sit my suitcase upwards before the door creaked open. I looked over to see a woman with big, frizzy, black hair, and dark bags under her yellow eyes and glasses. Her attire was just a classic dress shirt with a yellow bowtie and a square hair clip. She didn't seem to see me despite the fact I was standing straight up in the open. She climbed onto the bed and lied down, trying to sleep.

"Uh... Hello?" I tried to start introducing myself.

She rolled over to look at me. "Oh. Sup."

"I'm Lokisoma. You?"

"Shamira." She yawned out.

"Oh uh... Nice to meet you. I hope you don't mind me being in here."

"It's cool." She rolled back over to the other side.

Well, that was strange. She didn't even care that I was here. I rolled my suitcase over next to the door. "Hey uh, have you seen anyone else in here?"

"Yeah," She looked at me, but didn't move her body an inch.

"Do you know who they were and where you met them?"

She yawned once more, "Dark blonde girl was in room I started in. Name was Aishwarya. Also found dark-skinned girl and a long blonde haired boy in an office. Names were Masozi and Madhu. Why you ask?"

"I'm with a group of people right now and we're trying to figure out who all is in this place."

"Oh. Cool. Have fun." She closed her eyes, trying to sleep.

I walked out with the suitcase, unzipping it a little to peek inside. It did look like my stuff with a multitude of different colored sweaters and fabric in mixed up piles. As I zipped it back up, I saw Esko come out with his suitcase as well. I also noticed that he had a spherical bunny plush held between his torso and arm.

Maedoc was also out in the hall, holding in a laugh from seeing the plush. "You still have plushes? Wow."

"It's- it's for my stress, ok?!" Esko hugged the plush, defending it. "And it's just- it's soft and I like it."

Allycia crossed her arms at Maedoc, "If he wants to have a plush, he can have a plush!"

"Whatever," Maedoc smirked. "Just don't expect me not to make fun of him."

"Um, excuse me but... We should also get our stuff." Tomoguru tried to move things along.

"Oh, right. Where'd you say you saw it again?" Maedoc turned to Aishwarya for the answer.

"Allycia's is in 402, your's is in 406, Minea's is in 407, and Tomoguru's is in 410."

"How do you remember all of that? You must have a really good memory!" Allycia commented.

"I've just had to memorize where specific things were for a while. I've gotten used to knowing everything about my surroundings." She smiled just a tiny bit.

Everyone went to search for their said room. I looked over at Aishwarya. "So a lady named Shamira came into the room I was in. Do you know who that is?"

She sighed out. "Yeah. That's the weird lazy bitch that I woke up with."

"She also said that she found two other people."

"Yep, we did. Madhu and Masozi I think?"

I put my suitcase against the wall. "Do you know where they might be right now? I mean, if we find an exit I want to get everyone that I can out of here as well."

"Yeah uh... Somewhere down there past the dorms." She pointed down the hallway. "Though, I probably should just come with you. Easier introductions that way."

"That would be fine," I glanced up at the nearest wall clock. 7:47. Thirteen minutes until eight. "Esko, you going too?"

"Uh- sure," He stood for a second, debating whether he should put the plush down or not. He decided not to and walked over to us with it.

"Alright. I'll go tell that Maedoc kid that we're leaving for a bit." She walked over to dorm 406 and opened the door. We heard her scream, "Yo, edgy looking ass! You're in charge of the crazy kids while we're gone! Don't get them killed!"

She slammed the door and cleared her throat. "Let's go."

"Oh... ok then," I said in confusion before we started walking past all the dorm doors. I stopped near the door that was labeled the research office, which was right after all of the dorm rooms. Entering the room, I scanned over the wooden circle table and fabric chairs with short backs surrounding it. My vision went across a long desk with a similar surface like the table, where someone was sitting in the rolling chair trying to operate the computer.

"I am not a technology person," The long, blonde-haired man, who I assumed to be Madhu, admitted. A green string head crown with a small yellow gem in the middle of it added to the locks. He wore a pastel green tunic with a white, thick overcoat attached. On his legs were white stockings and black boots that went up to his ankles. "Isn't the device supposed to turn on when you press this button?"

"It should," The black lady with brown, medium-length hair and a lighter orange suit jacket said with clear irritation; below that she had a white dress shirt with a yellow tie. "But this damn thing doesn't want to work!"

"Hey, fucks. I found a few more kids." Aishwarya pushed us forward with impressive force, so much so that I almost fell over.

"Woah- hi! You are Madhu and Masozi, right? I'm Lokisoma," I introduced myself.

"And- I'm uh- Esko." He hugged his plush tightly. "It's- it's not just us. There's more in the next doors over."

"How many?" Masozi asked, standing up straight after having bent down to look at the computer screen.

"Five others," I answered.

"Did they also appear here unexpectedly?" Madhu stood up from the rolling chair.

I nodded. "Pretty sure, yeah."

"Very strange," He thought for a moment before speaking again, "Though yes, I am Madhu Kumar. Masozi and I are trying to get the device in this room to work, but unfortunately, it is not coming out so great."

"Damn thing's even plugged in and it still won't turn on!" He added, banging on the desk in frustration.

"I- I have a feeling that all the technology here was purposefully tampered with. I don't know why I just do!" Esko panicked once more, crushing his bunny plush between his arms and torso.

"Are you saying that there is someone in charge of this facility? One who does not want us to have contact with any outside sources?" Madhu speculated.

"That's- that's not exactly what I said, but- it does make sense why when you put it like that."

"So what? We're stuck in a lab just because?" Aishwarya asked.

"Well, if this were to be the case," Masozi added, "There would have to be a motive for such a thing, and I don't find one."

"You're right about that," Madhu nodded. "We should not assume that just yet, even if there is slight evidence to back it up."

"I- I always assume stuff! And I'm always right when I do! I don't want to be right but it always is!" Panic was apparent in his eyes.

"Hey," I walked over to comfort him, "No matter what happens, we'll make sure we're all alright at the end. Besides, if this is a dangerous place, I'm sure no one would purposefully try to leave anyone behind. Everything's going to be fine."

"I- I don't really think that we all will be fine but- ok." He fiddled with the plush in his hands.

I glanced up at the clock in the room. 7:51. "Maybe we should get everyone together and discuss what we should do. We have nine minutes until eight. That should be enough time to think of at least something before whatever the schedule says is going to happen-"

"There's a schedule?" Aishwarya tilted her head in curiosity.

"Oh! I never showed you, did I?" I pulled out the schedule once more and they all gathered around to read it.

"Are we supposed to be the participants stated in this?" Madhu asked right after he got done reading.

"I would guess so," I folded the schedule up and put it back in my pocket.

"This is strange," Masozi inhaled, "Alright, bring everyone into this office pronto. We must talk about this situation."

"I'll get them. They should still be in the same place, so it'll be fine," Aishwarya left, and soon after we could hear her muffled yelling.

Madhu looked a little frightened, "Does she... always yell at her peers?"

"From the few minutes we've known her, she has," I explained before hearing a loud thud from outside. I ran out to see what the issue was.

"You motherfucker!" Aishwarya was on the floor belly down.

Maedoc laughed at her, "That's what you get for making me watch these assholes!"

"Maedoc, don't know your middle name, Farrel! You apologize right now!" Allycia screamed at him like she was his mother.

"You can't make me, goody-two-shoes!" He continued laughing, "I can do what I want!"

Shamira was sitting on the floor near the hallway's wall. "Heh. Pain."

"All of you!" Masozi ran out as well, "We need to come up with a solution to this situation! Everyone, into the research office immediately!"

"Oh," Shamira looked up but did not move. "I don't want to get up."

Aishwarya stood up, sighed, and dusted herself off. She walked over to pick up Shamira with ease. "Come on, lazy ass."

"Thanks," Shamira responded, not even recognizing the insult.

We all entered the research office to Madhu and Esko carrying more chairs from the other rooms over to the table. Shamira was dropped into the one closest to the door and we all took a seat.

"Alright. First, we need quick introductions from the four that I don't know," Masozi focused her gaze on Allycia, "Let's start with you."

"Oh! Ok!" Allycia hopped up happily. "Hi! I'm Allycia Falconer! I hope everyone's doing well!"

"We aren't," Esko commented.

"You can sit down," Masozi instructed and so Allycia did. She turned to look at Minea.

"Minea Nurmi!" She was throwing a bright yellow plastic ball up and catching it with ease. I assume she found it in her suitcase.

"Why do you have that?" Masozi looked in suspicion.

"Because I want to? Would you rather me do something that is actually distracting?" Minea looked with an attitude.

"Fine. Whatever," She now looked at Tomoguru.

"Tomoguru Iakazi, miss," He stood and bowed deeply in respect, "Though, I'm afraid you forgot to say your name."

"Oh right. My bad. I'm Masozi Okorie. The long blonde over there is Madhu."

"It is quite a nice name, miss Okorie," He stood up straight once more and sat down.

You could see a smile formed on her for a moment. Soon after she returned to the business at hand, looking at Maedoc.

Maedoc, like Minea, didn't bother to stand. "Maedoc."

"Excuse me," Allycia crossed her arms at Maedoc, "We're doing full names here."

"I don't give a damn."

"Can we get this over with?" Shamira yawned, "I'm tired."

"So," Masozi started, "There is a chance we are stuck here, and there is no exit. However, before we know that is true, I propose we all look around as a full group as soon as the schedule says we're allowed free time."

"Are- are you saying we should actually go to that lobby room? With the chance of so many bad things happening?!" Esko freaked out once more.

"I think we'd just be forced in there anyways," Maedoc said, "And besides, maybe it'll be to tell us what's going on."

"What's going on is that we're going to die!" Esko screamed in fear.

"Calm, everyone. Calm," Madhu attempted, "No matter how bad the situation ends up, we must keep our composure."

"He's right," Masozi agreed, "If we freak out, we'll only be weaker. And about going to the introduction event, I do think we should. Not only do I agree with Maedoc that we would be forced there anyways and it could explain why we are here, but we'd also make a good impression towards the person in charge."

"That does make plenty of sense," Tomoguru nodded.

"But- I-" Esko ran out of things to say and finally complied, "Ok..."

I glanced up at the clock once more. 7:56. "We have four more minutes until the introduction and rules stuff happens. Should we just try to find the lobby room until then?"

"It shouldn't hurt to," Madhu said, already starting to stand up.

"Fine. Remember, don't get separated from the group! We won't bother to find you," Masozi left the office and we all followed. We passed through many labeled single and double doors. The rest of the doors in that portion of the hall were some sort of lab or office/support. Unlike before, I was not able to stop to glance inside since we were in a bit of a hurry. However, when we turned around the corner to the next portion, it wasn't just more doors and rooms. There were more people as well. A whopping ten people to be exact.

"Alright, everyone! We must split up to cover more ground and find out what's going on!" The long-haired ginger with a white dress shirt and a black armband with the letters P.I.A. stitched onto it instructed.

"Are we sure that's safe?" The short-haired brunette asked, wearing a thin, black jacket with a red, black, and white madras plaid shirt underneath.

"Who cares if it is? As long as I'm allowed with this blue beauty then I'm ok with it." The purple-haired man with a strange German accent grabbed the arm of a grey cloaked blue-haired man. Instantly afterward, he got a well-deserved backhand slap.

"No," The blue-haired one bluntly said.

"The hat says splitting up is still an alright idea!" The man with fluffy hair covered up by a grey horned tophat with a red gem that had an eye shape declared. "We have enough people so that if we split into two directions, both would have enough people to be safe!"

"You're... really sure that hat is talking to you, huh?" The darker lady with a low, medium length, dirty blonde ponytail, and a blue, v-neck shirt covered up by an orange sweater jacket asked the hat guy.

"Why, of course! It's the reason why I have all my brilliant abilities!" The hat guy laughed with confidence.

"Welp, we found the stereotypical ego man." The red-haired lady with a black head bow at the top of it mumbled to the brunette with her bangs over her eyes and two white bows on the sides of her head. The red lady wore a maid-like outfit with a choker around her neck. The brunette lady wore a more formal sleeveless top that reached up to the middle of her neck and a long coat with fluffy edges that ran down her body with a long, straight skirt doing the same. As a final touch, she had long black gloves on each arm. The brunette giggled at the red's comment.

"Uh... Hey, Kath?" The man with short, black hair and a white hoodie underneath a black jacket started to ask the ginger. "How are we going to separate? I mean- there are clearly other people who want to be with each other for one reason or another-"

"Very good question, my partner!" The ginger, apparently named or nicknamed Kath, interrupted him. "I say that you and I go separate ways and the rest of the people will be forced to be with who they were together with from the start!"

"Oh uh... Ok, that works. Who's going with me?" The black-haired man looked around for an answer.

"Well, I guess you're more tolerable." The cloaked man walked over.

"The hat is ok with this decision!" The hat one proudly speed-walked to them.

"Well if that's the case then-" The purple-haired man tried to go over as well, but he got whacked with the hat a couple of times. "oW!"

"Back you vile fiend!" The hat one, the one who was hitting him, yelled. "The hat does not want you here!"

"OK OK! Fine! Come on, Oswald. We're going with the carrot." The purple-haired man grabbed the arm of the short, brunette man.

"Oh ok." Oswald got dragged over to Kath.

"Do you wanna go with Kath, Neda my breada?" The ponytail girl nudged the girl with mint-colored, spiky hair, and a pink chef-like outfit minus the hat, who I just noticed was staring at us the entire time. "Hey. Whatcha looking at?"

She turned over to us and also started staring. "Uh... guys?"

They all looked over to us with the same surprise as we had when we found them.

"Oh jeez, uh- I'm sorry!" I stepped forward cautiously, "We didn't expect anyone else to be here beside us and we were so surprised that there were so many more."

"Same here, I guess." The ponytail girl, though still looking shocked, was the first to speak.

The ginger who was called Kath before stepped towards us. "Well, there's no better time than now to introduce ourselves! I'm Kathlin De Costa, head of the Paranormal Investigator Association! You all are...?"

"Lokisoma. The rest of them are Aishwarya, Allycia, Esko, Madhu, Maedoc, Minea, Masozi, Shamira, and Tomoguru." I pointed at my peers as I said their names.

"Great to meet new members! Over there is Ambrus!" Kathlin pointed at the black short-haired man. "He is my main partner!"

Ambrus waved at us.

"And the other not as important ones are Kumiko, Nichola, Allin, Way, Eunika, Neda-"

Before she could get to say all the names, we heard an unknown voice coming from an intercom speaker.

"Attention, everyone. Please meet in the lobby room, also known as room 100. Again, please meet in the lobby room, room 100. Thank you."

While that announcement was playing, I looked up at a hallway clock once again. It was 8:00 AM.


	2. Chapter 2

:Day 1:  
:8 AM:

"What was that? Actually no, who was that?" The cloaked man said after a huge pause of silence from everyone.

"The hat tells me it's the person in charge of this facility, and that we should go to the lobby room to meet them!" The hat man held onto the brim of the said hat, tipping it down in his confidence.

"Hang on a minute!" Kathlin yelled. "I will not fall for an obvious trap this easily!"

"I- I don't think going to the lobby room is the trap," Esko was calm for a moment before bursting out in paranoia once again, "This whole place is one big hidden trap in itself!"

"Esko, please calm," Madhu comforted him with a soothing voice, "As I said before, we must keep our composure even if this is bad. If we work together well, we should be fine and get out of here alive."

"I do agree with him though," I spoke up, "I don't see why it could be a trap, and going there could explain what's going on."

"Ugh, fine!" Kathlin sighed, "But I'll blame you when we end up dead!"

"Fair enough." I shrugged, looking at the room numbers of the current hallway. They were all in the 500s, meaning we were far from the front of the building. "Did any of you pass the hallway with room number 100? Or anything in that range?"

"Oh! It's all the way back there!" Neda pointed to where their group came from. "Eunika and I started there!"

"Yeppers," Eunika smirked. "So we go back there, yeah?"

"Come on! Let's go!" Minea ran past the group in the direction Neda was pointing in, and we all tried to follow. Some were way slower than others.

"Excuse me," The brunette with the black dress said, "I can not run fast in these shoes. Could you all slow down a bit?"

"I don't want running." Shamira wasn't even trying to catch up, trailing behind on purpose.

I tried to slow down for them, but no one else wanted to do the same. They all went ahead of me besides Madhu and Oswald, who looked back at me.

"Hurried fellows, they are." Oswald shook his head, "Not sure why."

"They are panicked, probably, or eager to know why we are here." Madhu speculated. "It's reasonable, as I, too, am eager, but it doesn't mean that we should leave others behind."

"Thank you for letting me catch up," The brunette's smile was like a ray of sunshine filling my face with happiness, "I'm the Nichola that Kathlin spoke of earlier. You are Lokisoma, correct?"

"Yeah, nice to meet you." I held out my hand and she held it in her own as if she was prepared for it from the start. After the handshake we started walking once more, sometimes stopping to wait for Shamira.

"Don't want walk," Shamira complained in a monotone voice.

"Here, darling," Nichola went over to her and held her hand, "Would it be better if I escorted you to our destination?"

"Yes." With that, they started walking together hand in hand.

"That does work, indeed." Oswald smiled, "Back to task, yes?"

I nodded and we started moving again, now going past the number 600. While we were walking, I decided to start a conversation. "So, is there anything you all like to do for a living? Maybe just a hobby or something?"

"Yes, yes! I am a very fine winemaker!" Oswald gleamed with happiness.

"Excuse me if this is wrong to ask, but aren't you a teenager?" Nichola asked.

"Yes, yes. I never have the wine myself, and I don't own anything yet. My family, most notably my father, is very successful in that industry, so I am following their silver footsteps and now leaving golden ones in their place! I would not be surprised if I was better than him even at this age, but to determine that yet would be too bold." He giggled at his comment. "About you now, yes?"

"Oh dear, I'm afraid I don't do much work-wise. Though, I do like to participate in a lot of social events." Nichola turned to Shamira. "Would you like to share anything?"

Shamira paused for a moment to think. "Puzzles."

"Any specific puzzles?" Nichola attempted to get her to talk more.

"All. Doesn't matter what. Puzzles, the only thing that keeps me awake is puzzles." Shamira had a serious glare on her face.

"Ok then." Nichola seemed slightly confused but did not want to be rude.

"May I speak now?" Madhu turned back to all of us behind him.

"You may," Nichola smiled.

"In my hometown, I am well known as a wonderful snake charmer. I would not say I am truly the best, but people call me the ultimate of sorts anyway." Madhu said modestly, looking back at me to wait for my answer.

"I'm just a costume designer," I said.

"That is still marvelous, deary!" Nichola complimented. "Creating or designing anything from your own hands is tough. You should be very proud of yourself!"

"I am, but it's not that cool when you think about it," We turned another corner. As I looked away from them, I saw that the room numbers had gone down to the 100s. I glanced around, laying eyes on an exceptionally large double door in the middle of the hall. "Is that the lobby room?"

"Let me see..." Oswald speed-walked toward the door and read the label. "Yes, yes! Room 100, lobby! Yes, let's go in!"

"We are at our destination, darling." Nichola turned her head to Shamira.

"Yay," Shamira showed no emotion except drowsiness. Nichola giggled and led her inside. Once we all entered the lobby, we could see everyone else glancing around in confusion.

"The hat says they should be here any second, but it won't tell me who this they are. It seems that not even it knows, and that is a rare occurrence!" The hat man said in surprise.

"Would you shut up about that damn hat?!" Maedoc yelled at him, "It's not even alive!"

"How dare you!" He held his hat in defense. "It is very real, and a fine fellow! It gives me my very special abilities!"

"Like what? Being crazy?" Maedoc said sarcastically.

"Of course not you buffoon! I, as a very skilled mentalist, can read minds, perform telekinesis, and all alike those!" He bragged with pure confidence covering his voice, "You can not compare in any region to the skill I possess!"

"Yeah, sure. Not that you can prove it or anything." Maedoc rolled his eyes.

The hat man grunted in anger, "Fine! If you want me to prove it, I shall! Go ahead and pick a number between ten and sixty and keep it in your head."

"Whatever," Maedoc stood and waited.

The hat man narrowed his gaze onto him, "You aren't thinking of a number."

"How would you fucking know that?!" Maedoc lashed out.

"Didn't you hear me before? I'm a mind reader! And you clearly are not trying to cooperate!"

"There's no way you can actually do that, so I'm not even going to try and humor you!"

I stepped towards them, aiming to end their argument. "Um, if you don't mind, I could let you prove it."

"Finally someone who will be able to appreciate my work!" The hat man said with relief, "Now, pick a number between ten and sixty!"

I started thinking of my number, looking up at him. His gaze narrowed onto me, giving me an unwanted sense of uneasiness.

Soon he looked away from me with confidence, "I'm sure you were thinking of 26!"

I stared in disbelief. "Yeah that- that was it."

"Ahah!" He grinned, "Another victory for the great Way Eskin!"

Maedoc scoffed. "Whatever."

"Shouldn't this leader or whoever be here by now?" The ponytail girl asked. "Why's they late?"

"I don't know, but they better get here quickly." The cloaked man slapped the purple-haired man away from him. "He is starting to get on my nerves."

"Yeah, that was my intention." The purple-haired man giggled. "It's fun!"

"Excuse my tardiness," An unfamiliar voice spoke. We all turned our heads to see a person with black, medium length hair behind a bright yellow smiling mask. They wore a long, white coat that looked like it was ripped straight from a stereotypical science movie character. It was slightly stained and/or torn on all edges of the coat, including the sleeves.

"Who are you? What's going on here?" Masozi demanded an answer.

"I am Mx. Starr." Starr bowed as a greeting. "And I am sure you should be well aware of what you've signed up for."

"No, we are not. Explain, yes?" Oswald said.

"Hm. That is strange. If you truly do not know, then I shall say." Starr started to explain. "You have all been signed up and chosen to take part in an experiment conducted by HEA. Its main purpose is to expose the psychological occurrences of human minds in certain situations. We choose twenty talented people each year to put them through these tests for a reward of a thousand dollars tax-free. We call people who participate in this experiment ultimates. Now, we are going to have to see if everyone is here."

Starr took out a clipboard with paper attached to it. "Ultimate survivalist, Aishwarya Nanni?"

"Right here." Aishwarya glanced in suspicion.

"Ultimate undertaker, Allin Paula?"

The cloaked man raised his hand, soon having to pull it down to grab the purple-haired man's wrist. "I swear if you try to touch me again I will make sure you won't have a funeral."

"Please do!" After the purple-haired man said that, he got pulled onto the ground by Allin.

"Everyone please control yourself." Starr continued. "Ultimate student council president, Allycia Falconer?"

"Right here!" Allycia waved her hand high in the air.

"Ultimate mascot, Ambrus Georgiou?"

"Yep!" Ambrus, with both hands on his hips, said.

"Ultimate speculator, Esko Prebensen?"

"Ultimate what now?" Maedoc looked over to Esko.

"Speculator," Esko said reluctantly, "I uh- I theorize without any evidence and somehow I'm always right."

"Oh, that type of speculator." Masozi seemed disappointed. "I was thinking of the other definition."

"Ultimate impersonator, Eunika Stephanidis?" Starr continued.

"Please, call me an impressionist, not an impersonator," Eunika said, "Impersonator just makes me seem like a bad bud, y'know?"

"Understood. Ultimate... huh?" Starr stared at the paper. "Why is this one crossed out?"

"Oh gee, I wonder why." The purple-haired man had a sly grin on his face.

"I'll try to figure this out later. Griffen Whittlesey?"

The purple-haired man giggled. "Right here!"

"Ultimate paranormal investigator, Kathlin De Costa?"

There was silence. Ambrus leaned over to Kathlin. "Hey, Kath? He's talking about you."

"I don't want this darn thing to know who I am!" Kathlin yelled at him.

"Now I know." Starr laughed a little. "Also, my pronouns are they/them."

"Oh! My bad, bro!" Ambrus apologized.

"Apology accepted. Ultimate mangaka, Kumiko Takeuchi?"

"Takeuchi? Mangaka?!" Tomoguru gasped and looked over to the red-haired lady. "Oh, it is you! I am such a big fan! I've been a part of your fandom since forever!"

"Ey, kid. Always nice to meet non-creepy fans." Kumiko grinned.

"Ultimate costume designer, Lokisoma Yamazaki?"

"Ultimate is kinda stretching it, but that's me," I said modestly.

"Ultimate snake charmer, Madhu Kumar?"

"Here," Madhu responded.

"Ultimate demonologist, Maedoc Farrel?"

"Meh," Maedoc grunted.

"Wait. Wait wait wait!" Kathlin burst out suddenly, "You're a demonologist, Allin's an undertaker, and I'm a paranormal investigator! It's the perfect trio!"

"What?" Maedoc stared at her, confused and irritated.

"You have information about paranormal entities! Well, specifically demons, but still! Allin appeases the dead, so he should be able to let ghosts rest easy, and I investigate everything!"

"She's been going on this rant ever since I told her what I do for a living. It's exhausting, especially combined with this other moron." Allin subtly pointed towards Griffen.

"I don't know what the hell your carrot ass is on, but we are not your partners. Got it?" Maedoc yelled angrily.

Kathlin shrugged. "Your loss."

"Are you three done?" Starr asked. "Good. I'll continue. Ultimate strategist, Masozi Okorie?"

"Here." Masozi didn't even turn towards them.

"Ultimate juggler, Minea Nurmi?"

"Yeah, bud!" Minea exclaimed optimistically.

"Ultimate patissier, Neda Fuchs?"

Neda shook her hand in hello but didn't say anything.

"Ultimate socialite, Nichola Broadbent?"

"Here, darling." Nichola bowed politely.

"Ultimate winemaker, Oswald Winton?"

"I'm here, yes yes!" Oswald said.

"Ultimate puzzler, Shamira Hava?"

Shamira was sitting on the floor, half asleep. "Huh? Oh. Yeeeeeeeee... I'm going back to sleep."

"Ultimate talent inspector, Tomoguru Iakazi?"

"Here, Mx. Starr." Tomoguru bowed deeply in high respect.

"And finally, ultimate mentalist, Way Eskin."

"Indeed, finally! It is I who is the greatest mentalist of all time!" Way bounced forward, fueled by his massive ego.

Maedoc fake coughed. "Bullshit."

"EXCUSE ME?!" Way yelled, sprinting towards Maedoc and being held in place by Aishwarya. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO DENY MY GREATNESS IN SUCH A WAY! YOU EVEN SAW IT FIRSTHAND!"

Aishwarya threw him to the ground. "Alright, ego-fest. Turn it off."

"Enough," Starr demanded. "Now that I'm sure we have everyone, we need to go over some rules. Of course, there's the obvious: no vandalizing or breaking any HEA equipment on purpose. You will have to pay for that and will most likely be taken out... of the program. This includes attempting to break into locked rooms as well. Also, due to security reasons, you will not be allowed to exit the building at any time during this experiment. Do not worry, we will have plenty of calls and letters to family members and friends on the outside; we have everything you would need to live comfortably here, including bedrooms and a cafeteria that is constantly restocked. It is advised that you listen to me at all times since you must be able to know what is going on in the experiments."

"Haha... I forgot to listen." Shamira laughed in a monotone voice.

"Shamira, please stand up. One of the rules here is about sleeping anywhere but the dorms, which you should not do."

"... Don't like this anymore." Shamira looked very disappointed but stood up anyway.

"You will be notified by announcements when it is past 9 PM. At that time it will be officially nighttime, and some areas will be closed. This time ends at 6 AM. That should be everything for now, but I have one more thing to show you." Starr walked over to a TV-like screen on the left wall. It had a silver border with the logo HEA on the top. It was on some sort of menu screen. "This is the Hope Experiment Association Pad, or, as I like to call it, HEAP. It is a touchpad that stores all information gathered. There is nothing in it yet, but soon it will have all general information about everyone participating, and sometimes it will show the results of certain experiments. Now, I'm going to give everyone here a pocket-sized version of the HEAP. For the love of your parent's bank account, do not break it. These cost a lot. You do not have to carry it around all the time, of course, but it's just for when you need it."

Starr went over to the corner of the lobby room to a box and grabbed one small HEAP at a time. It kind of looked like a typical modern-day phone, minus the HEA logo and its full silver and light blue case. They handed the HEAPs to us one at a time. Most put it right in their pockets as I did, but some started to mess around.

"Ooo! This is so cool! Thank you Mx. Starr!" Allycia said enthusiastically, touching buttons on the device.

"Alright, everyone. Be careful and enjoy yourself for now. You have minimal restrictions on where you can explore. Our first experiment will begin later today. Goodbye." Starr waved and everyone spread out in different directions. Some stayed in the lobby, others went out to explore even more.

... Where should I go?


End file.
